In Trudie Strobel’s colorful embroidered artwork “Marriage,” a wedding chuppah sits between two large and impressive columns. The columns are Jachin and Boaz, the pillars that flanked the entrance to the Temple in ancient Israel. The arrangement emphasizes the strength of Jewish heritage and turns a moment in time into a celebration of Jewish continuity, … Continue reading
I imagine that most everyone reading this post has a sense of the various styles of face mask sewing patterns out there, each pattern with its own pros and cons. This center seam version is the style I’m focusing on at the moment. I like that there are minimal gaps around the mask. The curved … Continue reading
Aleph, bet, gimmel. This fabric design features the 22 letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet and three Jewish symbols: a dove, a Star of David, and a hamsa for good fortune. When I started offering pre-printed fabric panels of this design in the SewJewish Etsy shop I announced it in the newsletter, but only when those … Continue reading
I’m really excited to introduce the newest Sew Jewish pattern, a Passover matzah cover featuring a machine appliqued cityscape of Jerusalem. The cover has three pockets, one for each of the pieces of matzah used during the Passover Seder, and it’s ready to steal attention from your Seder plate. It’s available now in the shop: … Continue reading
Can you tie-dye a wedding chuppah canopy? Yes, you can! Tie-dye is one of the easiest and most fun ways to add color and personality to your chuppah. In this post I’m going to show you how to tie-dye a chuppah canopy in a ring burst pattern using a Sew Jewish silk chuppah canopy. To … Continue reading
Guest sewist Susan Yaskin explains how to make a rag quilt, like these Jewish-theme quilts she made for her granddaughters as Hanukkah gifts. Making a rag quilt is faster and easier than making a classic quilt, and if the idea of quilting a whole blanket at once seems intimidating, then making a rag quilt may … Continue reading
When doing machine applique, turning sharp corners can be tricky. I’m talking about the kind of sharp corners you find on a star, like a Star of David. As you approach a pointed corner and the applique narrows to a point, the stitches become wider than the applique. The stitches can end up spilling onto … Continue reading
First of all, an apology and a correction, because the name of the doll modeling this tallit and kippah set is not Rebecca, as I reported on Instagram, but Samantha. My daughter caught the error. So my apologies to Rebecca and Samantha for not remembering which one has bangs. But Samantha does look pretty cute … Continue reading
Deborah Katchko-Gray is a professional cantor and accomplished needle artist. When she’s not weaving melodies with her voice she’s weaving embroidery thread, creating Judaica with a technique called Swedish weaving. Swedish weaving is a type of embroidery in which the stitches are worked on the surface of the fabric. Rather than the needle passing to … Continue reading
For the past few weeks I’ve been having fun working out how to make a doll size tallit. It’s not quite there yet, but it’s pretty close. For my first versions I tried woven wool fabrics so I would have fibers coarse enough to make little tassels at the ends of the tallit. I’m kind … Continue reading
Here’s a huge thanks to all the Jewish authors and the publishers who bring Jewish books to life. To mark this year’s Jewish Book Month, I’ve gathered a group of Jewish book recommendations for your bookshelf (and kitchen shelf). Most of the selections are new this year, but for the Jewish sewing and needle craft … Continue reading
If you love the idea of making your own tallit but the thought of taking on the whole project feels intimidating, I have great news for you: You can create a very special, personalized tallit by making only the atarah –the neckpiece– and sewing it onto a purchased tallit. The atarah is a long, narrow … Continue reading
Wreaths are not a major motif in Judaism, but Jews used wreaths as holiday decorations and wedding accessories even in antiquity, when the Temple stood in Jerusalem. Although today wreaths are strongly associated with Christmas, Jews made wreaths for Shavuot and other festive occasions before the birth of Jesus. And as a symbol, the wreath … Continue reading
One of the most fun developments of Jewish wedding planning over the past few years has been the emergence of DIY kits that enable couples to build their own chuppah frames. While the first kits on offer were almost entirely made from birch branches, you can now find chuppah kits using a variety of materials. … Continue reading
This month, when so many students are going back to school, seems like the perfect time to highlight Rachel Braun’s book, Embroidery and Sacred Text: New Designs in Judaic Needlework, in which Rachel draws on principles of mathematics to develop needlework designs that explore Jewish spirituality. Rachel teaches high school math and statistics, and she’s … Continue reading
Based on my experience making custom wedding chuppah canopies, the most popular wedding chuppah sizes are 5.5’x5.5’ and 6’x6’. Over the past few years I’ve created close to two hundred custom chuppah (aka huppah, huppa) canopies, and these are by far the sizes that clients request most often. These sizes provide ample space under the … Continue reading
Couples planning weddings have lots of options when it comes to their chuppah, and the person supplying the chuppah frame is often not the same person creating the canopy. How do you make sure the canopy and the frame will be the right size for each other? This blog post explains the dimensions that count … Continue reading
Roses are red, or yellow, or blueish, But did you know they can also be Jewish? OK, that was kind of corny. And we all know roses come in a lot more colors, like white or pink or peach. But the rose’s status as a Jewish symbol is less well known. A Symbol of God’s … Continue reading
